Driven Religion

Driven Religion

Religion in its own context is a comforting tool for its faithful and is an accordant follow-up to one culture’s traditional viewpoints. But when religion becomes mired into the entity of a governing body for a state’s dictums, any minority belonging to that state will indeed be ostracized, for religion simply follows the rules of man’s bias. Case in point, here in the States where the prevailing dogma is Christianity, do you think that it is a true reality that a Buddhist, or a Hindu, or a Shinto, or should the god forbid, a Moslem could be elected into a high political office? I certainly don’t think so, no matter how glowing their credentials would be.

For that matter, there was once upon a time here in the States that even within the realms of a religion, bias would sink its menacing fangs. Catholicism was the first Christian group to emerge unified and whole from Christian persecutions by the Romans. Catholicism is Christian, the original Christian governing body today’s Christians sprang from. But less than 100 years ago, to elect a Catholic into high office was unthinkable with the US entangled in a more protestant puritan stance. Since the Kennedys, perhaps we have evolved away a little more from religion’s prejudice vice, although presently one can easily hear of protestant confessions that Catholicism is not Christianity. Of course today, could you imagine a Jewish citizen holding office in a Muslim country, or an Arab Israeli citizen winning a political office of high authority? Not for one minute, would you…but why is that? Because we all realize one religion tied into a governing state or the culture’s psyche will exempt all others. For religion is solely traditional and to remain traditional, there is no room for tolerance.

Tradition is good to a point when it reveals the virtues of belonging to an unwritten way of life, but tradition cannot be flexible, therefore is resistant to change. Without change, bigotry and discrimination will influence and guide the faithful fold. How that praxis is handled is dependent on how deeply the tradition is entrenched. Sometimes though, as Protestantism broke from Catholicism, the newer developed religion castigates the former.

Christians know of them from biblical tales and times, but there still is a pocket of Samaritans left in Israel, but only a population of a little over 700. A Samaritan is Jewish, in fact there ancestral origin is more Jewish traditional than who we consider as Jewish today. Samaritans held onto the original Jewish henotheistic faith of a central god surrounded by minor gods. Once elitist Jews, along with Ezra returned to Israel after being freed by the Persians from Babylonian exile, they incorporated a fully monotheistic belief developed while in Babylonia and persecuted anyone who would not follow, namely the Samaritan. In a period of Jewish history when divorce was fully frowned upon by the religion and its god, still, Ezra decreed that for any Jew to submit to the one god, he must first divorce his heretic or heathen wife (namely a Samaritan woman) and leave that family he had with her behind.

From then on, the Samaritan was reviled by the followers of the newer enforced Jewish form of worship in one god. They were relegated as scum and ferociously put down by the new Jewish thinking. The reason for today’s very small Samaritan population is due in most part from the orthodox Jews’ concerted efforts in annihilating the Samaritan. Throughout the Samaritan persecutions the Christians and Moslems inflicted their participation as well in the genocide.

Today, it may not be the Good Samaritan being persecuted from religion’s edicts, but nonetheless, as regimented…religion is still rearing its ugly bias. Within its own ranks, Muslim Shi’ites and Sunnis, Christianity’s violent history between Gnostics, Catholics and Protestants and throughout the fold, the Buddhists and Hindus in Sri Lanka, Muslims versus Christians in Lebanon and along with many more are examples of religion’s wrought transgressions on humankind.

But the one predominately religious stranglehold existing today is the flame the Jewish nation of Israel is torching the Moslem Palestinians with that the Christian West tends to keep a blind eye to and wash their hands of. Historically, the Israeli Jews and Palestinian Moslems are religiously different. This appears to be the most prevalent emphasis, for genetically the Middle Eastern Jew and Palestinian are bonded closer to one another than the Jew to Europeans and the Palestinian to Arabs. Both the Jew and Palestinian are Semitic in origin. Apparently though, blood is not thicker than religion.

When religion becomes involved with a state’s government and principles atrocities occur, such as in Iran where very primitive religious thought still survives today in the stoning to death of women accused rightly or wrongly of adultery. They’re buried up either to their chests or necks as instructed by religious laws, then are pummeled by thrown stones until dead. Men accused of homosexuality are agonizingly hanged to death with a crane slowly heightening the rope.

As for Israel, let’s expound a bit. Originally, just after WWII, Jews through terrorist acts first fought the colonial power Great Britain (who at that time held control over the religious lands) and further, Jews ostracized its inhabitants out into unfavorable land like the Gaza Strip; a parched piece of land of arid desert. These inhabitants were the Palestinians who were also dispersed into other Middle East countries as refugees. Then the Jews proclaimed their newly conquered land as the new state of Israel, with the orthodoxy and Zionist Jew heralding the land they took by force as god ordained and mandated. Palestinians had no way to fight back, not being allowed to have a military, so came up with a guise of terrorism as their only choice in the forms of suicidal terrorists and abductions. This is the basis for deep-seated hatred that has come about from the two camps.

Today, Israel continues to implode and plow down Palestinian homes and if that is not enough, it is how they do it. The bulldozing of Palestinian and Arab homes is conducted normally at night for the element of surprise as no prior notification is announced. About the only way, the victimized occupant knows is in hearing the heavy equipment and accompanied tanks approaching. Literally, the owner or renter of the targeted dwelling has to wake up and run for their lives, not being able to salvage anything except for their lives. What little sustenance the Palestinians can scrub from the barren lands they were forced onto, even there, Israel poisons and destroys Palestinian crops and olive trees.

Unfortunately, not only does the USA turn a blind eye, we support and supply Israel to conduct these horrid crimes. The United States donates billions of dollars every year to the Israeli government and allows the sale of Caterpillar bulldozers that are used specifically for the home implosions. On these human rights abuses, Israel has American military and diplomatic support.

Just a couple of weeks ago this December in a religious debate, all the prominent Israeli rabbis pronounced that no Jewish citizen of Israel, should rent their real estate to an Arab or Palestinian, no matter if they too are Israeli citizens.

Anyone in peaceful protest that defies the Israeli Security policies of the demolition of family homes, the arresting of Moslem children or the replacing of Moslem residents with Jewish settlers is expelled from Israel. There are no rights when it comes to enforcing these expulsion edicts by the Israeli authority. Even if you are Christian, but an Arab Christian, the expulsion still holds.

I guess words to best sum this up were voiced by Stephane Hessel, a WWII Jewish French resistance fighter and Nazi concentration camp survivor. If for anyone, his words should be lauded. He said just after Israel attacked the flotilla bringing in aid to Gaza:

"The absence of meaningful action from governments to hold Israel accountable to international law leaves open one path for citizens of conscience:to take this responsibility upon themselves, as done against apartheid South Africa. Non-violent citizen-led initiatives, exemplified by the Flotilla and the various boycott and divestment campaigns around the world, present the most promising way to overcome the failure of world governments to stand up to Israel's intransigence and lawless behavior."

All Christians know the story of Mary and Joseph, escaping away to seek refuge from Roman occupation to have the baby Jesus…and yet today, over 2,000 years later, Palestinians still live in fear under the shadow of an occupying power in the region.

Yepper, a religion must hold steadfast to its tradition or its rituals become another form and thusly, the religion devolves away into a new identity. This is the case of Christianity and Islam branching from Judaism creating their own identity, in which both the religions themselves have secular branching that will eventually evolve totally away from their base as well, in given time.

Virtually every religion does not want this and that is why it clings to tradition. In order to retain and maintain its flock, there are strict rules that must be adhered to the prevailing god or authority, with the strictest of strict being in the belief. If you didn’t believe in the Jewish god as a follower, he would strike you dead. If you don’t believe in Jesus, he will not forgive you. If you do not believe in Mohammed as the last prophet, you are set for expulsion or death.

Perhaps one day, if religion is still a part of man’s psyche, hopefully it will have evolved away from bias tradition and implement some reasoning into the forefront. Then man will be able to soar into the truer infinite heights in believing more in his or her self.

About Me

Entered the world as Bruce John Anderson. With a dad as Bruce and two John dangrads (grandpas), grandma thought it too confusing, hence the nickname B.J. I've had ever since I was six months old; yet some folks refer to me as simply...The Beej.

Born in Stephenville, Texas on the Sunday morn of 11/09/52 and while growing up in the Fort Worth area, I have a West Texas flair about perception in life. Currently, I’m a misplaced Texan residing in NW Pa. and that is OK, for one Texan is about equal odds to one Yankee state. This ol' Texan does indeed love the snow up here. Snow is about the only thing I know of that can even make a junkyard look pretty.

Graduated: Trinity HS (Euless, TX) in ‘71 and later from The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) in ‘84 with a Bachelors in geology.

Had my first set of children Amber (1971) & Jason (1974) as a young man and my second set Claire (2003) & Paige (2005) I had as an old man. Am married to sweetness in Veronica my wife.

I extol the science disciplines working as a microbiologist, geophysicist, chemist & geologist.

Work has taken me into 39 countries. It’s amazing witnessing firsthand the varying cultures and environs, but prefer the myriad similarities; the old man sitting on a tree stump in front of his central Sudan mud hut was the same old man sitting in his favorite rocker on a West Texas front porch; both just sitting back watching the world go by while pondering it all.

My motto in life is don't take it so seriously, it's not like it's permanent.